In systems thinking and business theory, a growth mindset is an ensemble of ideas, attitudes, or techniques held by a group or individuals in pursuit of some goal. In business, this goal may be to develop products that meet the needs and desires of the customers. It might also be to improve the profitability of existing products or services. The ultimate objective of business people, however, is to bring about a continual improvement in the quality, quantity, and value of the services or products they offer to their customers. This objective is known as the “growth” of the firm.
In systems thinking, a growth mindset allows you to get better results for less effort. If you are able to change your mindset from a “me first” to a “we first” attitude, you will be able to get better results for less effort. Conversely, if you remain in a “me first” attitude, you will continue to struggle to get better results for less effort. With a growth mindset, it becomes easier to get better results for less effort because you won’t be distracted by your past failures. Instead, you will be focused on today.
It’s hard to argue with the fact that intelligence, talent, and skills are critically important in achieving success. Unfortunately, human nature does not lend itself well to being able to let go of past mistakes and learn something new. Our brains were not designed to be flexible, and we have little ability to completely rid ourselves of bad habits. This is one of the reasons that so many people lack the skills and talents to become really successful in life.
Growth mindset allows you to accept that sometimes, you just have to make some mistakes and learn from them. If you can’t change previous mistakes and learn from them, that’s no reason to throw your entire future away. Even the most talented and successful people have made mistakes in their lives. And, yes, they’ve made some big ones, but they continue to learn and grow because they recognize that there is value in doing what might be perceived as a mistake.
Growth mindset also allows you to see failure as part of the learning process. Far too often, people allow the fear of failure to stop them from ever starting. They feel like it’s impossible to fail at anything, even things that seem simple. But, they don’t realize that they are actually using the same fear of failure to increase their intelligence, skills, and talents. It’s called growing. And, by applying the law of growing, anyone can become an expert in almost any field.
The final benefit of having growth mindset is that you will feel empowered when facing challenges and adversity. You will view failure not as a devastating blow to your ego, but as a way to build your skills and your personal character. This is true not only for the individual facing the challenge, but also for those around them. Challenges are not some form of punishment. They are a chance for you to grow and develop into a more effective version of yourself.
The third benefit of having growth mindset is that it requires that you regularly maintain a gratitude journal. This doesn’t require much effort on your part-all you have to do is keep track of how many pages you read in your gratitude journal. What does require a bit of work is to make sure that your gratitude journal reflects your growth mindset. For example, if you wrote in your gratitude journal that you were grateful for all the help you received throughout your life, this is a reflection of your growth mindset. If, on the other hand, you wrote that you were grateful for only being able to study one music instrument, this is not a helpful piece of advice.
As you work on developing your intelligence, your talents, and your character-growth should naturally follow. You will find that growing up does not take as much effort or time as you once thought. When you develop a growth mindset, you will find that you have more opportunities in life-more friends, better relationships, and more growth opportunities. So, live life with growth and vigor, and it will come.